


(bitter)sweetness

by Dawn_Blossom



Category: Fire Emblem Heroes
Genre: F/M, Halloween Robin, Harvest Festival, Spring Chrom, essentially a sequel to the Ever Two Halves tempest trials
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:08:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26894941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dawn_Blossom/pseuds/Dawn_Blossom
Summary: “Ah… Robin…”No… Not him again…“I thought I told you not to speak to me!” she snaps, but when she opens her eyes she sees that it is a case of mistaken identity on her part this time… Either that, or Chrom went back to the castle and changed incredibly quickly. “What are you wearing?”“Oh, this?” Chrom chuckles. “I was summoned while celebrating the Spring Festival, so my outfit is a bit unusual… On the bright side, it repurposes well for the Harvest Festival!”
Relationships: Chrom/Gimurei | Grima, Chrom/My Unit | Reflet | Robin
Comments: 12
Kudos: 93





	(bitter)sweetness

**Author's Note:**

> *kicks in the door* HAVE YOU HEARD THE NEWS??? FEH SAID CHROM/GRIMA RIGHTS!!!
> 
> Do you understand how absolutely validated I feel?
> 
> Note that this fic is basically a sequel to the tempest trials story, which you can see [here](https://feheroes.gamepedia.com/Ever_Two_Halves#Story) if you haven't already. And considering I'm posting this fic a day before the event even releases, um, you might need to.
> 
> So anyway, who else is going to get Spring Chrom and Halloween Robin s-supported?

The shrieks of delighted children resemble those of the doomed, and if Grima closes her eyes, she can almost imagine herself to be somewhere else. Not sitting alone on a bench, but roaming free in a place where the humans would flee from her in terror. She would show them just how it feels to be hunted and hated!

Here, hardly anyone even notices her. Everyone is dressed up, masquerading as things they are not, as if they do not already play fools every other day of their lives. She hates the clothing she herself is wearing. She has overheard several humans calling her… cute. As if appearances matter anywhere in the universe! All that truly counts is what lies inside the heart… Hatred, rage, despair… Humans are all alike. How can they enjoy these inane festivities? Does their hatred not simply grow stronger when everything comes to an end and they realize it was all a mere distraction from the truth?

“Ah… Robin…”

No… Not him again…

“I thought I told you not to speak to me!” she snaps, but when she opens her eyes she sees that it is a case of mistaken identity on her part this time… Either that, or Chrom went back to the castle and changed incredibly quickly. “What are you wearing?”

“Oh, this?” Chrom chuckles. “I was summoned while celebrating the Spring Festival, so my outfit is a bit unusual… On the bright side, it repurposes well for the Harvest Festival!”

“Yes… Very frightening,” Grima sneers.

Chrom, seeming to assume that she’s playing with him, smiles a little wider. But when she says nothing more, his face begins to fall.

“Are… Are you feeling alright?” he asks. Such disgusting concern saturates his words. “You look ill… Er, you didn’t eat too much candy, did you?”

“I wouldn’t make such a stupid mistake!” she says. “Besides, I haven’t even had any!”

To get candy, she’d have to… approach the humans… submit herself to their whims… and for what, tiny scraps of sugar she’ll devour in an instant? She’s above that…

“Well, maybe that’s the problem.” Chrom takes a seat beside her. “Here, someone gave this to me earlier. You can have it.”

From his pocket, he pulls a brightly colored lollipop with a shiny transparent wrapper. He holds it out to her like he actually expects her to take it. Like he thinks they’re two normal people. His soft, crinkled eyes are unbearable to look into. He is stupider than the animal he resembles, a little bunny running towards the mouth of a wolf who has already tasted of its flesh once.

“What will it take for you to leave me alone?” She covers her face with her hands. All she can see is charred flesh. “If I could kill you, I would! I am NOT your friend! Why is it so hard for you all to understand that I—? Why are you looking at me like that, worm?”

“Ah, I’m sorry,” the idiot dares to apologize. “It’s just that I’ve been in this world for a while. You aren’t our only Grima, you know. Yes, some of us had to… adjust. But we’ve all figured out how to get along now. Er, mostly.”

“You…” Grima frowns. “You didn’t talk to me because you thought I was…?”

Slowly, she lowers her hands to her lap.

“They do say the eyes are the key to the soul,” Chrom says. “As soon as you opened them, I realized.”

That’s right, he’s so close he couldn’t have missed it…

“And the others don’t have memories about, er…” he continues. “Yes. So frankly, I thought you might not recognize me...”

“You thought wrong,” Grima says. “I remember… I remember it all! The strike, the betrayal, the pain, and your stupid moral superiority! Tell me, if I struck you here and now with my claws, would you tell me again it wasn’t my fault?”

It wouldn’t KILL him. The contract would probably allow it.

“Er, no… But…” Chrom’s face is so familiarly tender. “Grima… if you truly remember… WAS it your fault back then?”

“You think it wasn’t?” she scoffs. “Of course I remember! I hated you so much! I…”

Magic came to her hands so easily. She didn’t even have to whisper a spell. She was meant to kill, to destroy, to ruin. He had the nerve to grant her forgiveness with his dying breath, such an easy promise coming from a person who didn’t have to keep it. And everyone watched her, fear in their eyes, their faith breaking as she stared at them, and then her follower whispered, _you see, this is the truth._

“Damn you,” she hisses. “Why would I want to recall something so…”

No insult is forthcoming. It isn’t insignificant, meaningless, or worthless, but… Nevertheless, she doesn’t wish to dwell on the memory.

“In that case, don’t think about it..,” Chrom says gently. “If it hurts you, it’s not worth it…”

Oh, how she wishes she could rip the pity off his face! Why hasn’t he learned by now that grace and mercy are always wasted? If he were anyone else, she would think he was trying to manipulate her… But there is something about that concept that seems impossible.

“My intention was never to upset you,” he continues. “You just looked… like you weren’t having any fun. Now, I may not be in charge of this one, but I still see it as my duty to spread festival cheer… Or try to, at least.”

“With candy,” Grima says flatly.

“Sure,” Chrom says. “At the Spring Festival, we have chocolate eggs and marshmallows, and they always bring joy. I figured it couldn’t hurt to try.”

The lollipop is still in his hands. Its swirls are practically taunting her.

“When it doesn’t work, you’ll have to go away,” she says, snatching the treat up.

She hates the way he catches the wrapper as she carelessly tosses it aside. She hates the way the sticky candy is somehow sized perfectly to fit her mouth. She hates the way the sugary, vaguely fruit-inspired flavor coats her tongue. She hates that she likes it, and she hates most of all that Chrom surely _knows._

“Is it any good?” he asks redundantly.

“It’s pure sugar,” she mutters. “Of course it is…”

There is no point in lying about it. But he doesn’t have to look so self-satisfied.

“So,” she says, “there you’ve done it. You’ve spread your festival cheer. Are you happy now? Will you stop pestering me? Since you understand that we aren’t friends…”

“Right…” Chrom says. “I…”

His frown is pained. Good. That is what he gets for talking to the fell dragon at all.

“Hey, you two!” comes a cheerful voice from behind the bench. 

A manakete wearing a large witch hat suddenly leans over, squeezing between their shoulders.

“N-Nowi,” Chrom starts. “Is there something I can do for you?”

“There sure is!” Nowi says. “I’m taking sign-ups for the costume contest! You’ll join, won’t you? Otherwise we won’t have enough people and the whole thing will flop and children will cry. They’ll CRY, Chrom.”

“Well, we don’t want that,” Chrom says. “I suppose you can put me down. Though, er, I’m not sure I’ll be winning anything like this…”

“No, no, it’s really great!” Nowi insists. “Hunter and prey! Everyone will get it, no problem.”

“Huh?” Chrom asks, but then comprehension dawns.

“Oh, we didn’t—”  
“I’m not—”

Chrom and Grima fall silent, then turn to each other in unison.

“Nowi didn’t mean—”  
“She has a point—”

They quiet again. Nowi laughs.

“I get it, I get it, you didn’t come here together,” she says. “But it doesn’t matter as long as I WRITE DOWN that you’re entering together. Don’t get so stressed out!”

Grima rolls her eyes.

“And just why would I waste time parading around in,” she grimaces, “some tasteless costume I was induced to wear…”

“Uh, ‘cause otherwise you wore it for nothing, duh,” Nowi says. “Besides, we have great prizes! You get a bag of candy just for entering! And if you win, you get a WHOLE pumpkin pie! Although I guess you’d have to share it if you won together.”

A bag of candy… That would probably be the easiest way of getting more sweets. She wouldn’t have to debase herself asking for them. And should they actually emerge victorious, the smoothness of the sweet and spiced pie filling might even soothe the indignity of having to let Chrom eat it with her.

“Well, Grima, what do you think?” Chrom asks.

She frowns. For some reason, she didn’t expect him to call her by her proper name… And in front of this manakete who seems so familiar, too. Didn’t she once…?

Her head hurts, and she stops that train of thought at once. Why should all the humans get to forget their miserable fates but not her? She is not even in her world. This is not her reality.

Therefore, perhaps it is acceptable to spend a small amount of time with a rabbit. What is this Chrom to her but an oddly-dressed fool? He is nothing. She feels nothing. There is no relationship to recall.

She is Grima, as she always has been. As she always will be.

“Bring the candy to us first,” she demands of Nowi. “Do you think I’m unaware of how you worms like to wriggle out of everything? We will sign up AFTER we are compensated.”

“Treats, no tricks. Got it,” Nowi says. “I’ll be right back!”

Grima hates the way Chrom smiles—no, _beams_ —at her the second Nowi leaves. She hates the way his arm accidentally brushes against hers.

And most of all, she hates how utterly, unthinkingly natural it is to spend more time with him.


End file.
